Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow Creators Defined by the Legion

I was thinking recently about comic creators who - by virtue of the time they spent on the Legion - in my mind, would be defined primarily as a "Legion Creator,"

I'm not saying that their other work is somehow less important or anything, just that, for instance, if you were to read a retrospective or something, you would expect that their Legion work would be the number one thing referenced.

The list I came up with is surprisingly short, excluding some very important names like Shooter, Cockrum, Grell, and Swan for who - as important the contributions they made to Legion history - their time as a Marvel creator (in the first two cases) or their inseparable association with other characters (Green Arrow and Warlord for Grell and Superman for Swan) very likely would outweigh the "Legion Creator" tag.

The list I would come up with is limited to just:

John Forte
Paul Levitz
James Sherman
Keith Giffen
Steve Lightle
Tom and Mary Bierbaum

and... that's it!


Every other name I tried to think of either had a more significant credit that they would primarily be known for, or had too short a run on the Legion for it to be considered "significant," at least in my mind.

So, do you agree with my choices? Think that Levitz's time as an exec would outweigh his Legion contributions? Think that Giffen's Justice League is a more significant legacy than his Legion? Think that an argument could be made that Cockrum's Legion work is as significant as his new X-Men?

What creators do you think are defined by the Legion?

I think you've got it pretty spot on. Perhaps Al Plastino, because co-creating the Legion IMO is his most major accomplishment (though he certainly had a long career doing Superman-related series). Meanwhile Otto Binder would be more known for his Captain Marvel family work and / or his incredible science fiction stories in MiS and Strange Adventures.

Giffen is the only one on the list that is iffy. Beyond Justice League or Legion, I think he'll be better remembered for his various funny characters that are "pure Giffen creations" like Ambush Bug, Lobo, the Heckler, Vext, etc.

Yeah, Giffen's inclusion might be my own personal bias, as I know he's had an incredibly varied career. It's just that every time he comes back for a short bit on the Legion (like in DC One Million or the recent annual) it always feels like he's coming "home".

I think it could be argued that "Tales of the Bizarro World" would be equally important for Forte.

What about Tom McCraw?

I'm pretty sure that is indeed your personal bias. Giffen's done too much else.

What about Jeff Moy? He's done some other stuff in comics, like Star Trek (plus video game design work like X-Men Legends), but Legionnaires was his longest run, yes?

I thought about Moy as well, but then thought the Star Trek stuff might outweigh it.

I'd add Tom McCraw for certain... not only for his writing stint but for the stunning and error-free colors he provided over the years. You can rest assured there was no yellow-haired Nura during his tenure.

There's no way I'd leave Giffen OFF the list. For sure, his contributions to comics as a whole are VAST, but you just can't leave him off such a list.

There never seems to be any love for Greg LaRocque.

He only had two long runs -- on Legion and on Flash -- and on both he's been criminally underrated IMO. Come on -- he drew the Sensor Girl/Fatal Five Saga and the Universo Project!! Whereas on Flash, the only significant arc he drew was The Return of Barry Allen, which proved to be his Flash swan song and is arguably not as strong a story as the ones which Mark Waid immediately followed it up with. Therefore, LaRocque=Legion Creator.

I totally agree with Greg LaRocque FL, he drew beautiful and strong looking women. His Nura was exquisite!

Well said, Harbi. Thank you.

I could never leave out LaRocque, either. The Universo Project is a huge favorite of mine. More so than the Great Darkness Saga, actually.

Agreed. Thank you, Cleome.

This discussion is bringing back fond memories of that thread I did where I reviewed the Sensor Girl/Fatal Five saga. Hmmm...maybe it's due for a bump.

Jimmy Janes had about a 2 year stint on the Legion even though he didn't draw all the issues during those 2 years, I can't remember him doing any other series?

Plus he did the 3 issue Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes mini and this nifty ad!

You're right about Jimmy Janes, LWL - It does look like the Legion was his longest sustained run, and he even lists it first on his CV:


http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jimmy-janes/12/a01/418


but... whew... who proofread that for him?

Legion of Super-heros? Vampiella? Marval Teamup? Come clean, Cobie... are you actually Jimmy Janes?